For fans of (early) Opeth, Dismember, Edge of Sanity, Hypocrisy, Vader, Pestilence, Ursinne, Bolt Thrower....basically, the best death metal has to offer!

One of the UK’s leading death metal acts return with album number 5, and De Profundis haven’t sounded this focused and this ferocious in years. Perpetually progressive, subtly melodic and yet as savage as they come, De Profundis sound rejuvenated here and The Blinding Light Of Faith is an eye-opening blast of technical death metal brutality.

An anti-religious stance echoes throughout The Blinding Light Of Faith, as the hypocrisy of Abrahamic religions are stripped bare and mercilessly dissected. This is some seriously heavy shit; in context, in structure and in tone, with the band surpassing themselves from a technical perspective while maintaining a core sound that recalls the glory days of progressive death metal.

“Godforsaken” and “Bringer Of Light” aside, much of De Profundis’ death/doom metal past has now been jettisoned entirely, with a technically complex fusion of black and death metal now informing the core of their sound. “Opiate For The Masses” offers the off-kilter thrills so often delivered by Pestilence while “War Be Upon Him” has a grinding Asphyx / Hail Of Bullets feel, perfectly reflecting the war-themed death metal of the song title. Both are highlights on an altogether exemplary release that never once fails to impress, with its unfathomable time changes and alternating moods surprising the listener at every turn.

There’s something endearingly appealing about the lack of ‘fat’ on The Blinding Light of Faith, such is its ability to deliver its clear message with as little pomp and ceremony as possible. Barring a few necessary, scene-setting, soundbites, it’s left to the music to do the talking and De Profundis have excelled themselves here, fashioning an album that’s compact, concise and generally capable of crushing its enemies with as little fuss as possible. At heart, this is simply extreme metal at its absolute finest, with an exhaustive collection of ideas perfectly executed via 8 astonishingly succinct tirades.

A ‘great’ album was always to be expected but The Blinding Light Of Faith should be considered a modern extreme metal masterpiece from one of the UK’s leading purveyors of vehement filth. One thing is for sure, De Profundis have just solidified their place at the forefront of an ever-growing, ever-impressive scene. 9/10

That’s our ramblings over and done with, here’s what De Profundis have to say about The Blinding Light Of Faith:

“The Blinding Light of Faith is an album about three of the most merciless and bloodthirsty institutions in human history. There is no nation or people on this earth who haven’t suffered under the savagery of at least one of the Abrahamic religions and to reflect that suffering we have made the heaviest, most aggressive record of our career.”

I love Heavy Metal. Always have. Always will. As editor of Worship Metal - a site dedicated to being as positive about Metal and its myriad of sub-genres as possible - my aim is to 'worship' Metal through honest reviews, current news and a wide variety of features; offering the same exposure to underground bands as we do to mainstream/well known acts. Our mantra; the bands are partners and we exist to serve the bands \m/